Laureates 2010

Henry van de Velde Awards 2010

Four Henry van de Velde Awards were presented at the ceremony on 18 January. The Henry van de Velde Company Award 2010, Young Talent Award 2010, Public Award 2009 and the Henry van de Velde Career Award2010. As part of the Henry van de Velde Awards, the OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 2010 | Product on the market and OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 2010 | Product in development were also presented.

Henry van de Velde Career Award 2010
The Henry van de Velde Career Award goes to Marc Van Hoe.
An internationally recognised designer of interior fabrics, Marc Van Hoe (b. 1945, Beveren-Leie) made his name by keeping an eye on future trends and looking for those new products, materials, images and colours that pave the way to innovation. In this way, he has helped dozens of weaving mills step up to become world players.
Working in partnership with spinning mills has always been a priority in his drive for innovation. We saw this in the “onderzoek” (study) collection created in the late 1980s in association with the Irish Ross spinning mill, the “materie” (matter) collection realised with Ets Albouy in France for OSKR, and the recent, tactile “huidencollectie” (skins collection) in association with the German mill, Schoppel. “These and many other collections are generally pivotal in the discovery of new applications or communicating with customers,” says Marc Van Hoe.
Maintaining close contact with Flemish machinery designers to apply new developments has always been a constant for Marc Van Hoe: “I am proud of these companies because our region is home to the biggest weaving machinery manufacturers and this was, and remains to this day, a real asset.”
The jury had this to say: Marc Van Hoe is a man of many skills, who operates in artistic, industrial and educational spheres. Throughout his career, he has gathered around him a group of people with whom he has collaborated and generated new business. He has been teacher in the Academy in Kortrijk, one of the few Flemings to show his (conceptual) work at the Lausanne Biennial, and he has run his own business, Oskar. He has forged ahead with his own ideas in the often conservative textile industry of Southwest Flanders, and has managed to bring about innovation. Marc Van Hoe, who started out in a period when punch cards were still in use, has evolved and kept pace with the latest techniques and technologies. He is a true craftsman on the basse lisse and haute lisse looms. He is textiles.
www.marcvanhoe.be

Henry van de Velde Company Award 2010
The Henry van de Velde Company Award goes to Curana.
Curana started out as a bicycle maker, but evolved in 1946 to become a maker of cycle components for the Belgian cycle manufacturers, such as luggage racks, chain guards and mudguards. Since 1999, the third generation of the family business has been implementing design as a strategic management tool and has gone on to collaborate with a group of partners. As a result of this change of direction, Curana has become a worldwide trendsetter in the niche market of cycle components. Curana collaborates with a number of designers, such as Adriaan Debruyne (Saflot) and Julian Gonzalez (Pilipili Product Design).
The jury had this to say: Curana is a longstanding family business that consciously decided to employ design as a strategic tool in an almost saturated but very popular market segment, i.e. cycle components. It supplies products that are well conceived, each one created with the help of designers. It is highly innovative and known for its technologically and aesthetically superior products. These cycle products are well thought-out, down to the tiniest detail (including packaging).
It is Curana’s ambition to take things further and become a trendsetting beacon for modern cycle manufacturers around the globe. The company proves Belgium to be a cycling nation and helps place us firmly on the map.
www.curana.com 

Henry van de Velde Young Talent Award 2010
The Henry van de Velde Young Talent Award goes to Diane Steverlynck.
Diane Steverlynck (b. 1976, Brussels) studied visual arts and later textile design at La Cambre. She set up her own studio in Brussels in 2003, and since then has developed objects and textile accessories for private interior projects and corporate clients. She also creates small series and unique items, which she sells in shops and galleries, as well as teaching at the KASK in Ghent.
Diane Steverlynck takes a highly personal approach to her designs of objects and textiles. She focuses on researching the materials and structures and their effect on use, and on the individuality of everyday objects.
The jury had this to say: the objects designed by Diane Steverlynck are finished right down to the tiniest detail. They hold enormous potential. Everything is authentic and unique: her approach, choice of materials, etc. Diane Steverlynck does not exploit her successes, but keeps on looking, and always starts afresh. She seeks out the boundaries. Her work shows signs of poetry. It is playful, has a sense of rhythm, reveals logic and is fresh. Design-wise, her work is self-contained and highly personal.
www.dianesteverlynck.be

Henry van de Velde Public Award 2009
The Henry van de Velde Public Award 2009 goes to the Jaga Design Studio for their child-friendly radiator, Play.
Yes indeed, we will be presenting the Henry van de Velde Public Award 2009 to the Jaga Design Team for the Play radiator at the Henry van de Velde Awards 2010 ceremony. This is not a mistake. While at the exhibition, the public is given the opportunity, by completing a voting slip, to select a favourite from among the Henry van de Velde Labels on display. Last year they voted for Play. This award carries a cash prize (EUR 2,500.00) along with the honour of recognition, and so merits a moment on the stage.

Last year, after an exciting competition, the public decided that design is more than just something for grownups. Kids can also enjoy it; even more so, they are an important target group.
The Play radiator gives maximum colour in a single radiator. The four-coloured Play4Girls or Play4Boys radiators create a playful atmosphere anywhere. Would you prefer clean white or stylish black? Either gives the same warm feeling! The Play only radiates safe heat and provides plenty of atmosphere at home, as well as in all kinds of public spaces, hospitals, child-care centres, schools … because safety and cheerfulness are now essential wherever you find lots of people together. Its low surface temperature and the rounded edges of its wooden casing satisfy the strictest safety standards.
www.jaga.be

The OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 2010 | Product on the market
Beltag, a lost-and-found service, designed by PARS PRO TOTO for Beltag, wins the OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 2010| Product on the market.
Beltag a combined product-service that provides tags (such as key tags, luggage labels, stickers and clothes labels) and covers every step needed to return lost property to its rightful owner. The anonymous code on the tags creates the link between lost objects of value and services that unite ‘LOST’ with ‘FOUND’. The website www.beltag.com is the engine behind the operation.
This service tackles a very real problem. A tremendous number of items are lost every day, and at the same time many are found. It is often very difficult, if not impossible, for an honest finder, or the police, to trace the owner. For the owner, it is unpleasant, annoying and even traumatic to lose something of value. Not only that, but many found items end up being discarded unused, while their owner is left having to buy a new product in its place. This system lengthens the lifespan of a product and does away with the need to find a replacement.
Beltag also bolsters a number of other (social) values, such as peace of mind, satisfaction, product attachment and a feeling of security.
www.parsprototo.be, www.beltag.com

The OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 2010 | Product in development
DECAY, an environmentally responsible wooden dining room chair, designed by Erik Hoedemakers, gets the OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO 2010| Product in development.
DECAY, from the SWAMP collection, is a gorgeous, entirely wooden dining room chair, preserved in an environmentally responsible manner. The legs and back are scorched and the seat is mould and dry treated, thereby avoiding the use of carcinogenic substances. The chair also has a tropical look about it, whereas the timber is locally sourced. The chair is then treated with a natural oil. The use of materials is reduced to a minimum and the dimensions are based on the size of the baseboard. The modern wood joints, consisting of milled rectangular beech pegs, ensure less machining and are stronger in this design than traditional joints. The light weight of the chair reduces transport costs and increases its ease of use.

Henry van de Velde Labels 2010
Design Flanders also issues the Henry van de Velde Labels. This year there are seven Henry van de Velde Labels, all of which can be seen in the “Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels 2010” exhibition in De Loketten, the exhibition space in the Flemish Parliament building. The press release on the Henry van de Velde Labels 2010 is available on request.

Nominations
OVAM also announces three nominations for the OVAM Ecodesign Award PRO2010. These can also be seen in the “Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels2010” exhibition in De Loketten, the exhibition space in the Flemish Parliament building. More information on these nominations is available on request.

Ceremony
The presentation of the Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels is an annual celebration of Flemish design. Not simply because two ministers, Minister-President of the Flemish Government Kris Peeters, who is also Flemish Minister for Economy, Foreign Policy, Agriculture and Rural Policy and Joke Schauvliege, Flemish Minister for Environment, Nature and Culture, present the awards & labels, but because the Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels are an important recognition of quality and because the presentation takes place in the Flemish Parliament building. This year is the 17th edition of the Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels presentation. Therefore, the list of past winners has become an important inventory of Flemish design talent, and it includes names like Piet Stockmans, Bataille&ibens, Axel Enthoven, David Huycke, Nedda El-Asmar, Sabbe&Hespeel, Linde Hermans, Michael Verheyden, Samsonite, Dark, Extremis, Durlet, etc.

Exhibition
The exhibition set-up was created by Danny Venlet, www.venlet.net. The exhibition architecture reflects the historic site, the De Loketten chamber, created by Victor Bourgeois, and the work of the winners. The main objective is to give a clear picture of the winners and winning objects through the objects themselves and film clips, and so give the visitors a current understanding of design in Flanders.

The “Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels2010” exhibition runs from 19 January to 26 February 2011 in De Loketten, IJzerenkruisstraat 99, 1000 Brussels.
Entry to the exhibition is free of charge. It is open from Monday to Saturday incl. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Visitors will be given a free catalogue on the Henry van de Velde Awards & Labels. The catalogue, designed by Leen Depooter (Quod. voor de vorm, www.quod.be), contains an article on each award winner and all the winning products.
Guided tours of the Flemish Parliament and De Loketten can be arranged for groups. If you would like to arrange a guided tour, please contact Design Flanders, bie.luyssaert@designvlaanderen.be.

Jury
The Henry van de Velde Awards are chosen by the design expert group and a team of design experts.
The members of the design expert group are Betty Cuykx, Siegfried De Buck, Leen De Pooter, Ludovicus De Vlam, Lut De Vogelaere, Anita Evenepoel, Nicole Guilliams, Lut Maris Bruno Meeus, Linda Raets and Jan Van Broeckhoven (chairman).
The design experts are Lise Coirier, Dieter Van den Storm, Klara De Smedt, Hilde Bouchez, Jan Boelen, Leen Creve and Kristel Van Ael.